The beginning of beautiful friendships

At 5:15 a.m. I had no desire to leave the comfort of bed to embark on any sort of journalistic adventure. But on Thursday, May 17, the first day of the Summer 2007 Chips Quinn orientation, I dragged my butt out of bed and drove to the airport. I arrived in Nashville at noon. Soon after, I met my roommate for the weekend, Vaida Morgan, and discovered our mutual love for dancing and singing -- albeit out of tune -- to Michael Jackson while getting ready for the first event of the weekend.

Upon arriving at the Diversity Institute, an older man with scruffy, white hair, a Gandolf-style walking stick and loafers approached me and my newly made Chipster friends and introduced himself as John Quinn. He was just one of the many interesting, impressive and quirky people I’d meet this weekend, ranging from Daniel and his special sock specifications to Sonia and our mutual love of food. Speaking of food, the first dinner’s prawns alone were enough to make waking up at 5 a.m. worth it. I can’t wait to eat -- I mean see -- what they have in store for us tomorrow.

-- Kathy Adams, University of Texas, The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.